Understand God’s Word

There are two types of people: those who love rewatching movies and those who don’t. Wherever you land, you have to admit, there’s something about revisiting a story. Press play enough times, and you can begin to dissect it from different vantage points, hunt for foreshadowing like treasure, and memorize it until you can quote all of your favorite lines. It may even begin to shape you, to mold you. But we’ll only ever be viewers. No matter how much of an expert we become, we’ll never be invited in.

In continuing to mine the depths of God’s Word as we seek to understand, we are invited into the story, discovering our place in the greater story being told.

The books of the Bible were written by people and for people situated in their own unique cultural contexts. We aren’t the first recipients. And yet, Scripture is for us too. If we want to understand a verse or passage for ourselves, we must first consider how the original recipients understood it.

In addition to the cultural context, there was also a theological context. God revealed His plan of redemption a little bit at a time, rather than all at once. Therefore, important themes and concepts developed gradually from Genesis to Revelation. As you consider passages in Scripture, consider what had already been revealed and what had yet to be revealed, just as you would when analyzing a character’s choices in the middle of a movie you’re rewatching—you know the ending, but that doesn’t mean the character does. And then consider where you find yourself in redemption history as you read Scripture. How might that shape your understanding of what you’re reading?

To understand Scripture, we must also pay attention to the type of writing we’re engaging with. There are many types of literature in Scripture, including poetry, prophecy, legal codes, and letters. Just as we watch a documentary differently from a romantic comedy, we should allow each biblical genre to speak to us in its own voice.

It’s one thing to know a lot about the story of Scripture. It’s another thing to understand it. Jesus rebuked those who committed their lives to pouring over the scriptures. They knew it, in and out. But they didn’t understand what it was all pointing to—Him. They didn’t realize that they were invited into the very story they had spent their lives studying (John 5:39).

And as we grow in our understanding of Scripture, let’s not miss out on knowing more intimately the One it testifies about. That’s the goal of our understanding.